Wyn
by SpencerBrown
Summary: When Obi-Wan and his Master are in direst need, the Force will provide.
1. meeting

Disclaimer: It's fanfiction, thus, not mine.  
  
Notes: My first  
  
Summary: Obi and Qui meet a new kind of alien.  
  
Title?  
  
by Spencer  
  
Fire and smoke bled into his vision, twisting and bucking into a nauseating swirl of danger. Pain throbbed through his skull, but was drowned out by the persistent pushing of the force. Danger!  
  
Obi-Wan quickly pinched his eyes shut and centered himself as much as a slight concussion would allow. Once he was calm, sea-green eyes re-opened to take in the situation. Their ship was damaged . . . severely, and large fires were rapidly devouring the cabin. Qui-Gon was . . . Master! Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet, weaving unsteadily as he shuffled toward his Master's fallen form.  
  
//Master!//  
  
Qui-Gon's large form was being pressed under a piece of fallen wreckage and the Master appeared to be unconscious.  
  
//Master, can you hear me?//  
  
The Padawan dropped to his knees beside the fallen Jedi, desperately hoping for some sign of consciousness. He could feel Qui-Gon's Force signature glowing brightly, but the fires were creeping closer and before long the smoke was bound to overwhelm the life support systems. They would suffocate on their own ship.  
  
Obi-Wan coughed and pulled a sleeve across his nose and mouth.  
  
//Master, please . . .//  
  
The debris was much too large to move by hand, had he even possessed the strength to stand, so the boy focused on the Force, trying desperately to levitate the massive chunk of metal and wires away from his Master's body.  
  
//. . . I need you.//  
  
He could feel the Force flowing around them, trying to tell him something important, but it remained just beyond his reach. The rhythmic pounding in his skull kept scattering his concentration and dizzy spinning wouldn't let him focus his energies on the debris.  
  
As a violent coughing fit seized his body he was thrown roughly from his tenuous meditation. Tears burned in his smoky eyes as he laid down with his head beside his Master's. Qui-Gon was trapped, the Force was elusive, but at least the air was clearer down here and he could think more clearly. Blue-green eyes scanned the cockpit, searching for anything that might help them.  
  
Suddenly his gaze was drawn to the far corner. There, obscured by smoke and shadow, something moved. For a moment Obi-Wan froze, believing his eyes to be fooled by some trick of the dancing flame, but the figure moved again, firelight glinting off polished metal. Squinting through the orange darkness Obi-Wan could make out a strangely elongated humanoid figure creeping cautiously through the rubble that had once been their ship. He recoiled slightly, shifting back to protect his Master, but the Force reached out with a nudge of reassurance. A small spring of hope rose within him at that. Even through he couldn't grasp the Force, it could still guide him. The shadowy figure drew closer and Obi-Wan prepared himself to do whatever was necessary to defend his injured Master.  
  
His face! Faster than his Jedi reflexes could follow, slender metallic fingers had emerged from the smoke to gently cradle his cheeks in their warm grasp. A smooth silver face then appeared before his own and a pair of large silver eyes gazed intently into blue-green. Obi was held still and speechless as an awe-filled voice said, "I can feel you." A warm smooth forehead was pressed lovingly against his own, lightly nuzzling the surprised boy. This tableau remained, time ticking by interminably, until another coughing fit shook Obi-Wan from the gentle caress.  
  
The creature stood, looked around, and lifted Obi-Wan in thin metal arms.  
  
"Wait!" he managed to choke out, voice raw and rough. "Help my Master." The creature - droid? - stopped, lowered Obi-Wan back to the floor, and turned to rip the heavy debris away with one delicate arm. She knelt by the unconscious Jedi and glanced back to Obi-Wan before lifting his large body easily into her arms.  
  
"Wait here," a firm voice admonished before they vanished into the smoke. 


	2. rescue

Wyn 2  
  
Obi-Wan curled into a ball and tried to ignore the flames creeping hungrily toward him. Their ship was burning, Qui-Gon was injured, and a strange droid had appeared, taken his defenseless Master, and vanished, yet he struggled to remain calm. He couldn't move, the concussion draining his strength away along with his handle on the Force, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Thick black smoke swirled in around him, cutting off his vision and burning his throat. His eyes stung, and tears rolled down his cheeks as he coughed, trying vainly to expel the noxious smoke from his singed lungs. The heat was becoming unbearable as sweat soaked his robes. He couldn't take much more. Soon he would pass out and never wake up. With a last plea to the Force he prayed that the droid had gotten his Master to safety.  
  
Then he was being swung quickly into the air, up into the thick blackness that floated against the ceiling. He gasped, drawing the dense smoke into his lungs, and shuddered at the fire which ignited in his chest. He began to cough violently as his hood was pulled across his face. At first he was frightened by the action and began to struggle, but as the choking subsided the realization filtered into his still swimming brain that the cloak was actually filtering out most of the noxious fumes. He relaxed, ever so slightly, and could feel a thin ripple of hope from the Force around him. He still couldn't concentrate clearly enough to grasp it, so he turned to his other senses.  
  
He was moving, quite quickly, and he could hear the predominantly rhythmic pounding of rubber on metal. Waves of heat were still rolling past him and he could see flashes and shadows of orange light reflecting through the folds of his hood. His body was held aloft by two thin solid rods . . . arms? Had the droid come back for him?  
  
This train of thought was interrupted as Obi-Wan was jerked to a stop. The heat grew to a suffocating pitch, burning even through the thick jedi robes, and he could feel the droid looking around for a clear path. He didn't dare lift his hood, for fear of the venomous smoke, but some lingering sense of direction told him they were amid the storage areas of the ship. With a swift jolt, Obi-Wan felt the droid slam its body into the corridor wall. It happened again and again, and the padawan was beginning to fear that its circuits had been damaged by the heat, when the wall suddenly gave way and they tumbled into another chamber.  
  
The sound of metal on metal echoed through a massive space as Obi-Wan pushed himself onto his hands and knees. His headache had only grown in the past few minutes, but he pushed it aside, struggling against the pounding concussion for some sort of mental clarity. Where were they? The air seemed clear now, and the heat had lessened, so he pulled his hood back from his eyes. The vast cavernous darkness was lit only by a flickering orange light which spilled from the large hole in the near wall, illuminating the reflective frame of the droid standing nearby. The droid was perfectly still, but a range of tiny lights, which looked almost like figures of some strange language sped across large opalescent eyes. The dizziness returned with a vengeance and Obi-Wan felt his stomach lurch. The floor rose, toppling the walls and the small pile of containers stacked in the corner.  
  
Metal flashed, and the boy found himself once again in thin metal arms. He could feel air rushing past his face, and realized they were moving nearly as quickly as the temple speeders. They were sprinting away from the hole they had made, into the pitch darkness, and Obi-Wan could not decipher the reason for such speed until his struggling mind landed on the image of the containers they were racing away from. They were spare fuel cells, and the fire was almost upon them. In a moment of panic Obi-Wan looked up into his would-be savior's face, but the darkness was now too complete to make out anything beyond two opalescent orbs, shifting slightly among shades of the deepest gray.  
  
"Hold on," he heard, before he was flying through the air, surrounded by a thin metal frame, shielding him, carrying him, protecting him from any impending impact as best it could. They hit the wall with a jolt and broke right through a grate, rolling bumpily into a ventilation shaft. The metal frame uncurled, and Obi-Wan was placed again on his hands and knees.  
  
"Crawl . . . quickly!" the voice commanded, and the padawan did not even think but to obey. He scurried forward, tripping in his robe, but stumbling blindly on, until he heard a dull explosion echoing down the passage. The droid grasped his ankle, pounded the floor of the vent, and before he could blink he had been pulled down into another corridor, swept up, and carried. They flew down the passage, and Obi-Wan could hear behind them the quick rapport of other explosions in a deadly chain reaction.  
  
Without warning they slammed into a door, and Obi-Wan's headache flared brighter than the fire. His vision swam as blackness threatened, but he wasn't yet ready to surrender to the pain. He heard a loud whoosh as freezing air rushed past his hands and face, then saw a shimmering wall of orange, gold, and blue flame rolling hungrily down the corridor toward them. He was literally tossed through a doorway away from the explosion, and caught the spinning sight of the droid pulling the door of the airlock closed on the inferno before hitting the disengage panel. He felt a jolt as the ship lurched free, and the face of the strange droid bending to peer into his own before finally succumbing to blissful oblivion. 


	3. curiosity

Wyn 3  
  
Obi-Wan woke to pain. His head hurt, his throat hurt, his chest hurt, his skin hurt, even his hair seemed to be aching where it stood from his head. //Master?// He tried to crack open his eyes, but brilliant blue light stabbed straight through the slits and into his skull, sending a lightning bolt crashing around his brain. It was almost too much to bear as the sweet numbness of oblivion drew near, but soon the light dimmed, and the Force revealed to him another presence nearby. He may have only become a Padawan recently, but all initiates in the Temple were taught how to take care of themselves in strange situations. It was one of innumerable small steps toward missions and Knighthood. Thus, Obi-Wan's training would not allow him to sink back into helplessness without at least knowing who was his companion, and if possible, where was his master. //I'll find you, Master.//  
  
He determinedly forced his rebelling eyelids open again, but this time the light was a gentle blue glimmer, just enough illumination to reveal the surroundings without hurting him. The room was small, with reflective metal walls, a chair, a desk, and the bunk on which he was laying. A thin figure stood by the door, and as Obi-Wan focused his blurry eyes on her he recognized the droid from before.  
  
"You saved us." His voice was a dry croak, and as soon as the words left cracked lips he began to cough. Singed lungs felt full of sharp sand as choking sobs racked his body, and when a supporting embrace was offered he accepted it, curling against the cool metal chest. He also felt a questing tendril of force energy being waved in his direction. This he accepted as well, using it to fuel his depleted strength and begin to heal the burns within his throat and lungs.  
  
Once he felt a bit stronger and the coughing had ceased, he pulled away to look up at the droid beside him. Now kneeling beside the bed, her elongated frame still held her head above his own and he was struck by the pearlescent shadows of her large oval eyes.  
  
"Thank you," he mouthed, wary of trusting his voice again. He felt her smile, then felt a burning curiosity overwhelm her.  
  
"How do you do that?" she asked, urgency pulling her forward to him.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"You . . . you touch . . . everything around you . . . with your soul. I can feel it. You touched me. How do you do it?" For a moment Obi-Wan didn't understand, then a long ago lesson returned to him. Many cultures, usually those without much Force sensitivity, referred to a Force signature, your place and identity in the universe of life, as a soul.  
  
"I've always been able to feel it, like you, but they teach us at the Temple how to use and strengthen our abilities in the right way. I am a Jedi." He said it with pride and was a bit surprised at the lack of recognition from the droid.  
  
"Jedi," she murmured, then a torrent of strange symbols cascaded down her eyes, glowing a light aqua against the dark gray orbs. Obi-Wan was entranced by the shifting patterns, watching quietly as the creature tried to 'remember'. Finally she looked up and the display ended. "The Jedi are peacemakers, traveling throughout the universe to help those in need, often believed to have mystical powers which aid them in their quest." The description was a bit naïve, but Obi-Wan nodded and smiled.  
  
"Right, except that we don't have special powers, we are just taught to use the Force."  
  
"The Force?" He noted curiously that her eyes flashed a bit of deep purple when she was confused.  
  
"The life force that connects and surrounds every living thing. It is everywhere, eternally, and if you listen to it, it can help you to accomplish great things." She still seemed confused, and he realized that he was sounding a bit like a certain green Master back at the Temple, so he opted for a different method. "Before, you let me share your . . . your soul, to heal myself. Would you do it again?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then just watch and feel what I'm doing." He shut his eyes and slowly let his senses wander all around him. He could feel his Master nearby, had been able too since the first bit of healing had restored a fraction of his strength, but he still couldn't pinpoint his location. He felt the droid holding another tendril of Force energy toward him, this one much stronger than the first, and he took grateful hold of it. The pain and confusion in his head had lessened a bit, but was still hindering his concentration, so he let a bit of energy go to that healing, then he set out to find his Master. //Master, can you hear me? Are you awake?// He could feel the man's presence, alive and well and very close, but the persistent spinning in his head just would not allow him any precision control. He threw more energy into healing, but knew with disappointment that a concussion would take a bit longer than this to heal properly, even in a healing trance. Despite the stream of energy from the droid, his strength began to falter, and he fell gently from his trance. //I promise I'll find you, Master. Don't worry.//  
  
Obi-Wan opened disappointed blue eyes to find the droid's face a mere inch from his own. "You are unhappy?" Obi sighed.  
  
"I wasn't strong enough to find my Master." A dark rusty shade bled through the gray orbs as the droid pulled away.  
  
"Forgive me, I have been too eager at your expense. You are still unwell and should be resting." She stood and turned to go, but was stopped by the boy's hopeful voice.  
  
"How is my Master? Where is he?"  
  
"I believe he is well, but still unconscious. Would you like to see him?"  
  
"Please," Obi-Wan answered with relief.  
  
Obi-Wan threw off the covers and sprang from the bed, only to be assaulted by a crushing dizziness which dropped him promptly to the floor. The droid gently picked him up, cradling him in her arms as they traveled down the hall. Qui-Gon was resting only a few doors down, still unconscious as she had said. Now Obi was close enough to check his health through the Force, and was relieved to find that he was not in any danger. He would probably have a nasty headache when he woke, and a lot of bruising on his legs, but nothing more serious.  
  
Obi sat on the bunk beside him and carefully brushed long peppered strands away from his Master's face.  
  
"May I stay here?" he asked. "When he wakes up he'll need my help into a healing trance. I shouldn't leave him." The droid nodded and disappeared into the corridor, leaving the Jedi alone. When she returned a moment later her arms were full of blankets. She carefully laid out a bed on the floor beside the Master's bunk and helped Obi-Wan into it.  
  
"You must rest too. You are not yet well." Obi-Wan nodded, already feeling the pull of sleep on his senses. His eyes followed her to the door where she turned. In her eyes he found a glimmer of blue as she spoke. He barely caught her words as he drifted to slumber.  
  
"Do not worry, I will watch over you both." 


End file.
